The weather will be terrific for being outdoors this weekend, but keep the leaf rakes in the shed. Stiff breezes today through Sunday will frustrate anyone trying to rake up the winter debris. Unless, of course, you can get the old leaves to blow into the neighbors' yard.

Instead, try picking up some of the trash that's accumulated all winter. I'm always amazed at the mess that's revealed when the snow melts and the sunshine becomes more intense. Trash drops off garbage trucks and blows out of the beds of pickup trucks all winter long. It makes roadsides and neighborhoods look awful when the snow's gone and the foliage hasn't come out to hide it all again. And nobody will stoop to pick up someone else's trash.

And then there's the crowd that somehow figures it's OK to throw the bag of fast-food trash out the car window, or the six-pack of empties, or an ashtray full of butts. Who teaches their kids that's a reasonable way to dispose of trash? I don't get it. And shoes. Who throws one shoe out of a car?

But I digress.  The National Weather Service says northwest winds this weekend will run between 15 and 20 mph, with higher gusts - as high as 34 mph today and tomorrow. Add low humidity and dry leaf litter, and we face another weekend of elevated wildfire danger. The Haines Index number will rise to 5 tomorrow - a "moderate" risk. So be careful with your smokes and trash fires.